A young girl wore a teal-colored wig, the incredibly long twintails on each side swayed with each step she took. She held tight onto a newly bought plush toy of a character who also has long, teal-colored twintails. The outfit she wore resembled that of Little Red Riding Hood, while the plush was dressed in a grey and black school uniform. The girl walked cautiously around the booths selling hand-made merchandise for a few minutes, searching, before dropping herself onto a wooden bench.

"Well," she sighed, "it looks like I can't find my group." Her voice had no sense of urgency or panic. Instead, she took this moment to drink in the scene.

Sound was echoed and amplified in the spacious room. Everything was abuzz with activity and excitement. People were busy selling, buying, and taking pictures. The bulk of the people stayed within the center radius because the big-shot companies like PlushNote held stations there. The girl had come from that direction; in fact, she bought her beloved doll from PlushNote.

The girl lifted the plush to her face, meeting it eye to eye. She turned it around and upside-down, studying every stitch sewn in the hand-made masterpiece. The doll was broken up into multiple pieces that were eventually sewn all together. Wishing she, too, could sew as well as the maker of the plush, the girl sighed and lowered the toy. After playing with the plush some more, squishing it and waving its arm to herself, the girl looked up from her smaller version, unexpectingly seeing a familiar figure in the distance, running straight for her.

"Brother!" The girl hopped off the bench and walked towards the incoming boy.

"Nina!" The brother stopped in front of Nina, worn out. "You were here all along? I was looking everywhere!" The dark blue wig he wore was disheveled from running all over the convention, strands of hair pointing in all directions. As he lifted his bangs to wipe the sweat from his forehead, a glimpse of vibrant red hair peeked out. Though the building stayed fairly cool, his outfit insulated the heat from his body incredibly well. The heavy, white coat lined with fur he wore for his cosplay, including a full tuxedo with long pants underneath, pushed him to the limit.

"No," Nina shook her head, "I went around the Artist Alley and bought some stuff." She proudly held up her plush.

"That's a pretty cute Miku doll you got," her brother breathed out, "But you can't go off like that. Already, you've gotten lost too many times to count! It's because you wander around instead of staying in one place." He lightly karate chopped Nina on the head as a punishment.

"I thought I would be able to find you guys if I moved around," Nina tried to reason with him.

Her brother sighed. "That's not the best idea." Taking her hand, he started pulling her forward. "Come on, everyone's waiting."

Nina followed her brother, arm outstretched because his stride was far longer than her own, to the beautiful center hall where cosplayers from all sorts of fandoms gathered around the elaborate fountain nearby to take memorable photos. Nina's group waited by that fountain.

When they saw Nina and her brother, they quickly stood up and went out to meet them. Nina accepted a few endearing hugs from them, unable to hear the "welcome back"s because their arms wrapped around her ears.

"What's the setup for?" Nina's brother asked, seeing a tall tripod with a camera pointing towards the fountain.

"We thought we should take some pictures to put in the end of year slideshow we do," a girl wearing a long, pink wig answered. "You know, a club thing."

Nina looked questioningly up at her brother, who smiled and told her, "Don't worry, you're not in the club yet, but you can still be in the picture. Can't let Miku out of the group," he laughed, "You are going to join Anime Club when you get into high school, right?"

Nina nodded her head furiously. She had been excited about high school just to join the club, and to take Japanese. Her brother had surprisingingly agreed to take her to her first convention, SmileCon, despite not letting her go the previous year. She only had a year left before officially joining the club.

"Jayden's adorable little sister is always welcome!" one club member piped up. She wore a long maid dress and short, green wig. Nina's face pinkened at the comment, too shy to mutter "thank you".

"Well," Nina's brother grinned, "If the club pres says so, then you definitely can join in, Nina."

Nina's amber eyes lost their worried expression and brightened up, eager to take a picture with the club members. Everyone gathered into position at the fountain, trying to copy a certain picture they saw online. Nina turned her back to the camera, though her face directed to the blue device and her eyes were still staring intently at it. The camera was propped so high up that it was at her eye level.

As she did, those who recognized their group cosplay whispered excitedly, "Hey, aren't they from Bad∞End∞Night, the VOCALOID song?" Some were bold enough to shout, "Nice cosplays, you guys!" to which the members shouted back, "Thank you!" Nina's heart beat faster, stimulated by the exciting atmosphere around her. She smiled to herself, happy to finally be able to go to a convention.

"Ready?" the club president yelled to the other members.

"Ready!" they all shouted back, even Nina, though her voice was drowned out.

The button activated a small, flashing red light. Nina calmed herself down; she was the only one who couldn't smile to keep in character. Timing perfectly, the club president ran towards Nina so her dress flared out behind her, one foot in the air. Nina tried her best to keep her attention to the camera, opening her mouth in mock surprise.

The flash was quick and sudden, but everyone was ready for it. After the picture was taken, everyone relaxed from their positions and turned to the president, who whirled the camera around so it would be unscrewed from the tripod. Gathering around her, everyone tried to catch a glimpse of the picture. The varying heights made it incredibly difficult to do so.

"I think it turned out pretty darn well," the president said with a grin.

"Yeah, it sure did," another member, this time with a long, purple wig, said. "I don't get why you're cosplaying KAITO, though." He directed his comment to Nina's brother.

"He fits the height," the club president answered, "And because we all forced him to so the lovebirds can cosplay a couple together." She giggled and elbowed a taller girl wearing a bright red wig.

"Shut up!" The girl flushed as red as her wig.

"If that's the reason, then Kaitlyn should've been KAITO since she's slightly taller than Jay," the friend went on. "Besides, I was just saying since he has red hair and all. He wouldn't even have needed a wig since MEIKO's hair is short!"

"Her hair is brown, though," the club president mumbled, both hands on her hips.

Another member jumped in with a laugh, "If Jay's being MEIKO, then I want to be KAITO." He was shorter than the rest and his bright blonde hair was certainly a wig.

"Hey," Nina's brother laughed as well, "you're most definitely not the right height, shortie."

"Alas," the shorter member responded. "But height does not matter in love. Right, Nina?"

Surprised she was addressed, Nina quickly nodded her head, twintails swinging back and forth. She didn't hear what he asked, though.

"Anyway," her brother cut in, "it's too late. I'm KAITO and that's that."

"Hai, hai." the club president changed topics. "What do you guys think about eating lunch? Better now than later, everything's about to start." The members gave nods of approval, suddenly realizing their growling stomachs. Nina didn't want to miss any of the panels they had planned to go to. "Well, it's settled, then." She pointed to a random direction. "To the food court we go!"

As everyone started following her, Nina pulled gently on her brother's sleeve. "What is it?" He turned around, seeing Nina holding a small, golden prop in her hands.

"I made it." She handed it to her brother. "It's the clock hand knife Miku used in the song."

"Cool." Jayden flipped it around, studying the varying cuts and designs on the small object. "Good job. So that's why you didn't let me in your room that time?"

Nina nodded her head. "I wanted to surprise you. If you came in, you would've seen all the golden foil and cardboard bits on the floor!"

Her brother chuckled. "You're right, I would've." He returned the prop to Nina. "Come on, let's go to the court."

At the food court, the members were once again waiting for the two of them. "Too slow!" the president shouted out to them.

"Sorry about that," Nina's brother yelled back.

"As a punishment," the final member, a short girl with a blond wig spoke, "you have to buy us drinks!"

"Oh, come on," Jayden laughed. "Fine, what does everyone want?"

After everyone announced their choice, Jayden turned to Nina. "Alright, you stay here with them, ok? Wait for me to come back before you go pick something for lunch." Nina nodded her head. Her brother rushed off to the far end of the court where he would be able to buy the various drinks people requested.

"Ok, I'm going to get hamburger and fries, who's coming?" the club president announced. A few people agreed to go with her. The others decided they wanted something else, so they left for their chosen destinations. "Don't listen to Jay, Nina, we can buy for you. What would you like?" The green-haired president smiled down to Nina.

Nina shook her head. "Bathroom…"

"Oh, of course!" The president pointed outside the court. "It's over that way."

Nodding her head slightly to acknowledge her help, Nina shuffled back to the entranceway of the food court. Though there were crowds of people, she spotted the restrooms easily; the signs helped. Heading the direction the signs pointed to, she silently quizzed herself, trying to identify the various cosplays around her. Attack on Titan, Pokemon, Doctor Who… She named a satisfying amount before heading into the bathroom.

When she exited it, her ears perked up, faintly hearing a noise she recognized very much. "Tell Your World", she thought, her eyes widening. Feeling the song was calling out to her, she eagerly looked around for the source. She walked all around the center, hoping someone there might be playing the song. The VOCALOID cosplayers she spotted had nothing that could play music, nor was the sound coming from them. The song was at the ending point, and Nina started to panic, worried she won't find the source if the song ended.

With her panic level at full meter, she gathered up the courage to ask an official-looking lady about the music. "Uhm!" She tried to get the blonde woman's attention.

When the woman turned around, Nina saw she carried a clipboard full of papers. Inferring they were programs for the different events around the convention, Nina relaxed. She must know where it is. "Do you know if there's a VOCALOID event here? Not a panel, more like a concert…" Nina's voice shook slightly, nervous about talking to a stranger.

"Oh." The lady seemed to recognize what Nina was describing and looked through her papers to find the event. "Yes, there's a karaoke room for VOCALOIDs in that direction." She pointed Nina towards an empty hallway. "It seems it's already started, though, so everyone's at their location." The lady smiled. "But if you go now, you won't miss much."

"Thanks…" Nina's voice faded, anxious to end the conversation. She hurriedly shuffled towards the direction the lady pointed to, heading deep into the hallway. There was no music, but Nina believed it was because no one wanted to sing at the moment. Her feet pattered on the hallway rug.

When Nina reached an open door, filled with a multitude of flashing, colorful lights, she was sure she found the right place. Bracing herself to meet others, Nina took a deep breath. Her brother was sure to be worried about where she went, but when she told him, he'd be happy to hear she met others all by herself.

Nina stepped into the room. Her smile was replaced by a confused frown when she saw no one in the flashing lights. With a heavy heart, she turned to leave, but saw the door had silently closed behind her. Before her hands could touch the handle, Nina blacked out and fell to the floor.

"First Sound (Hajimete no Oto)" by malo featuring Hatsune Miku